COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — The BYU lacrosse team won the 2011 Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association National Championship Saturday night, defeating the Arizona State 10-8 at Dicks Sporting Goods Complex.
The win gives BYU (20-3) its fourth National Championship, tying them for most in the history of the league, which includes 213 non-varsity programs. The Cougars tied Colorado State for most MCLA National Championships with four. The title is also the first as head coach for Matt Schneck. The win also gave the Cougars their 20th win of the season.
After defeating Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference rival Colorado State on Friday night, the third-seeded Cougars were coming into the Championship game playing their best lacrosse of the season.
Captain Ted Ferrin kicked off the scoring after beating his defender and diving in front of the crease while putting the ball past the Arizona State goalkeeper Dylan Westfall.
The fifth-seeded Arizona State (14-5) would respond with three goals of their own, taking a two goal lead into the first quarter break.
BYU answered back when defender Jacob Houghton intercepted a Sun Devil pass during a clear attempt and found his brother Jared Houghton at midfield who dumped the ball off to Ferrin who buried his shot to pull the Cougars within one.
Behind consistent face-off wins from the MCLA tournament MVP, Dan Cole, the Cougars were able to start to control the possession time. Sophomore Jake Ferrin dodged from the top and dumped the ball off to Junior Corey Gunderson who snuck a shot past Westfall to tie the game at three.
Soon after Pat Matheson powered his way past the ASU defense and blasted a shot home to give the Cougars their first lead of the day. Drew Shumway would find the back of the net on the next possession, sneaking the ball in through a series of screens to push the Cougar lead to two.
The Sun Devils would fight back as Senior midfielder Ryan Westfall ripped a shot off the next face-off and beat the BYU goalkeeper Wes Goar to pull the Sun Devils back to within one.
The Cougars would survive several ASU chances in the last four minutes of the half. Goar, who took over the starting goalie position when Matt Brandenburg broke his thumb the night before against CSU, made several key saves to keep the Sun Devils at bay going into halftime. Following two BYU penalties Goar made two saves while two men down.
With one minute left in the half the Cougars had possession and were looking to add to their lead before the break. Cole would again answer the call for the Cougars as he bounced a shot past Westfall to push the Cougar lead back to two just seconds before halftime.
Coming out of halftime the Cougars looked to build on their lead, but a series of sloppy possessions lead to multiple chances for the Sun Devils to close the gap. The defense, lead by several big saves from Goar, was up to the task, holding the Sun Devils scoreless until Gunderson again found the back of the net with a quick shot from the crease.
Both goalies went punch for punch with one incredible save after another to keep both teams off the scoreboard for the majority of the third quarter. After a turnover by BYU, the Sun Devils broke the scoring drought, as they found the back of the net in a transition opportunity.
Up by two headed into the last minute, the Cougars again looked to get a tally in the last minute. This time Matheson was up to the task as he rolled in front of the crease and trickled a one-handed shot past Westfall.
Arizona State's top players, Westfall and Eric Nelson would both get tallies to pull the Sun Devils to within one with five minutes left in the game.
Ferrin again answered the call for the Cougars and he beat Westfall on a dodge from the right side. The Sun Devils got off several shots, all of which Goar saved, before Andrew Harding found the back of the net with 30 ticks left on the clock, sealing the win.